Card associating device



Jan. 27', 1970 LE Roi G. NoTToLl CARD ASSOCIATING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. l2, 1968 m N :z w f! 6 Mu m M F @ma n 5 mw F f HIM/IUI INVENTOR. y

Jan. 27, 1970 LE Rol G. NoTToLl 3,492,002

CARD A SSOG IATING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. l2, 1968 nted Statesg Patent O 3,492,002, CARD ASSOCIATING DEVICE Le Roi G. Nottoli, Chicago, Ill., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Robert H. Hallowell Industries, Inc., a corporation of New York Continuation-impart of applications Ser. No. 411,256, Nov. 16, 1964, and Ser. No. 496,618, Oct. 15, 1965. This application Feb. 12, 1968, Ser. No. 704,930

Int. Cl. A6311 71/00; A63f 9/ 00 U.S. Cl. 273-148 7 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 411,256, filed Nov. 16, 1964, now Patent No. 3,377,069, granted Apr. 9, 1968, and a continuation-inpart of application Ser. No. 496,618, filed Oct. l5, 1965, now Patent No. 3,377,070, granted Apr. 9, 1968, all of the subject matter of the present application being common to one or the other of said earlier applications.

The present invention relates to card associating of stacking devices useful with information retrieval devices, card separating and dealing devices and cards for use with such devices. In particular, the present invention describes both magnetic and pin operated devices which separate and distribute a plurality of preselected playing card hands from a special deck, simultaneously in different directions.

When used as a playing card device, the invention is particularly useful for teaching various card games, such as bridge or poker where the instructor desires to deal each pupil certain specific playing cards during the course of a lesson to better illustrate the accompanying verbal explanations. The device of the present invention is capable of selectively dealing one single card or a greater number as desired.

Known card selecting or card separating devices have related to improvements in ling systems and the novelty, if any, resided in the ability of the apparatus to select certain record cards from a number filed in a container or cabinet. Other known devices deal with improvements in the actual filing and physical arrangement of record cards to facilitate office procedures.

The device of the present invention can best be described and most easily understood in its use as a playing card separating and dealing device and it will be so described for simplicity. When use as an information retrieval device, the mode and function of operation is essentially the same. The device operates in conjunction with a deck of special playing cards, or other data containing cards, having certain aligned laminations or aligned slots and holes along the edges thereof as hereinafter more fully explained. The deck or pile of cards is placed in the center of the device whereat it is completely confined and contacted by four outwardly movable panels and automatically aligned into a neat pile. In its magnetic 3,492,002 Patented Jan. 27, 1970 ice form a powerful anisotropic magnet is arrangeable in each panel along the periphery of the pile and provides the adhesive force to pull certain preselected cards along with their respective movable panels, simultaneously in four different directions. In the pin version, a plurality of holes are disposed in each panel along the periphery of the pile and are adapted to receive a pin therethrough. The pins extend through the holes in the panels and pick up linearly matching holes in the cards to provide the force necessary to pull certain preselected cards along with their respective movable panels, simultaneously in four different directions.

The present device is thus capable of dealing a preselected desired hand to each of four players.

Additionally, the device will automatically align the deck placed therein.

Further objects, advantages and features will be appreciated by those skilled in the art from a consideration of thedetailed description which follows, taken together with the accompanying drawings wherein two embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example. The drawings are for the purposes of illustration only, and are not intended to limit the bounds of the invention.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters indicate like parts:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the complete card separator assembly, includingthe arrangement of slots and magnets therein.

FIG. 2 is an isometric View showing the moving mechanism of the device.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3 3 of FIG. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of a card carrying tray comprising an element of the card separator.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an anisotropic magnet adapted to mate into the slots shown in FIGS. 1 and 4.

FIG. 6 is a section view taken along the line 6 6 of FIG. 5 looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIG.` 7 is a plan view of the back of a special playing card employed in conjunction with the card separator.

FIG. 8 is a section view taken along the line 8-8 of FIG. 7 looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 9 is an isometric view of the complete card separator assembly, including the arrangement of hOles and pins therein.

FIG. l0 is an isometric view showing the moving mechanism of the device.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 9 looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 12 is an isometric view of a card carrying tray comprising an element of the card separator.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a selecting pin adapted to mate into the holes shown in FIGS. 9 and 12.

FIG. 14 is an operational representation of a tray of FIG. 9 showing a pin of FIG. 13 installed in a movable panel to engage a plurality of cards.

FIG. 15 is a plan view of the back of a special playing card employed in conjunction with the card separator.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to FIG. 1 there is shown a selective card separator and distributor generally designated by the numeral 10 characterized by a substantially hollow cruciform base 12, defined by platforms or arms 14, 16, 18 and 20 forming the four arms of the cruciform base 12. Thus the platforms 14, and 16 are colinear and at substantially right angle, to like colinear platform 18 and 20.

Each of the platforms or arms 14, 16, 18 and 20 contain therein, through slots 22, 24, 26 and 28 respectively of specified lengths as later explained, the slots serving as guide means respectively providing four guide paths in a cruciform array. Within each slot rides a tray carrier designated in FIGS. 1 and 2, as 30, 32, 34 and 36. The carriers 30, 32, 34 and 36 bear card trays 38, 40, 42antd 44 respectively attached thereto in any desired manner such as through mounting holes 46 (FIGS. 2 and 4). Thus the card trays 38, 40, 42 and 44 ride outwardly and inwardly above the base 12 for the length o-f the slots 14, 16, 18 and 20 and it will be noted that at the most inward position of the trays, a rectangular enclosure 48 is formed and defined (FIG. 1) by four vertical walls, 50, 52, 54 and 56 forming the back of the trays 38, 40, 42 and 44 respectively. The enclosure 48 is the exact size as and adapted t-o contain one or more special playing cards 57 (FIGS. 7 and 8) or other cards of like size, not shown here, and since the height h (FIG. 4) of the walls 50, 52, 54 and 56 is the same or slightly greater than the thickness of an entire deck 58 (not shown here) of special cards 57, it will be readily evident that when such a deck 58 is placed within the enclosure 48, and the card trays 40, 42, 44 and 46 are slightly outward, upon moving the trays to their innermost position so that edges 59, 61 (FIGS. 1 and 4) thereof meet a crossrib 55, on the base 12, the deck 58 will nd itself automatically and neatly stacked and aligned.

Referring now to FIGURE 4, it will be noted that the vertical wall 54 contains therein a plurality of identical slots 60 extending vertically the entire height h thereof, spaced and positioned approximately equidistantly along the wall; eight such slots being shown here by way of example. Each slot 60 is adapted by contour to snugly receive an anisotropic magnet 62 therein as shown in FIG. l. The anisotropic magnets 62 (FIGS. 5 and 6) as is well known in the art possess a powerful polarity concentrated along a relatively narrow face thereof, such as at 64, and in the installed position within any selected slots, the face 64 faces inwardly towards the enclosure 48.

SPECIAL PLAYING CARDS Referring now to FIGS. 7 and 8 wherein details of the special playing card 57 are disclosed, it will be seen that the four edges 66, 68, 70 and 72 thereof contain a plurality of metal inserts 74 secured thereto in any manner known in the art such as by crimping, or insertion between laminations of the cards.

The metal inserts 74, are spaced and positioned along the edges 66, 68, 70 and 72 of the playing cards 57 which form the special deck 58, in such a manner that the position of the inserts wherever they are present in any given card, can only be identical and opposite to the spacing and positioning of the verticalA slots 60 in their respective walls 50, 52, 54 and 56. In other words, the various cards 57 of which the deck 58 is composed, each contain one or more metal inserts 74 along their four edges. The number of inserts and their positioning on any given card is dependent upon the particular playing combination or pre-arranged hand to which the card is assigned, and forms part of a carefully pre-conceived pattern not part of this invention. However, the inserts 74 will always be made to fall exactly opposite a vertical slot 60, so that when an anisotropic magnet 62 is placed within a slot, and the card trays 40, 42, 44 and 46 are in their inwardmost position (so that edges 59 and 61 meet the crossrib 55) and the deck 58 is neatly stacked and aligned within the enclosure 48, all of the inserts opposite the particular magnet-bearing slot, will be in contact with face 64 of the magnet and attracted thereto. The same situation will prevail for each of the four edges 66, 68, 70 and 72 of the cards 57.

If cards other than playing cards are being employed in conjunction With the separator 10, as suggested above, the metal inserts 74 will be positioned in the cards in like manner, so as to always fall directly facing av slot 60 when the pile of cards is neatly stacked and aligned.

The playing cards 58 may have, in addition t0 the inserts 74 therein, an identifying design on the back. For example the card 57 (FIG. 7) has a back divided into 16 rectangles. Each rectangle is one of four different colors, as for example, white, red, green and brown. Each rectangle has a numeral imprinted thereon ranging from 1 to 13, since there are 13 cards to each of the four conventional suits. The corresponding rectangles on each of the cards 57 is the same color although the numeral thereon may be different. For example, the card 57 (FIG. 7) shows the upper left hand rectangle to be white, and bearing the numeral 1. Thus, on all the cards of the deck 58, the upper left hand rectangle is white, but the numerals thereon will range from 1 to 13 for each of the four suits. These numerals indicate the correct order of play of each bridge hand dealt out by the distributor 10i. In this manner, by following the proper number in any given rectangle of the same color and in the same position on each card, the cards will be played in the correct predetermined order according to the instruction technique. It is also possible for a user, after he has selected and played a card to turn it over and observe Whether he has made the correct selection according to the recommended play sequence. It will be noted that the number of hands possible to play in predetermined order may be increased by employing 32 rectangles on the back of the cards, each rectangle bearing a numeral assigned to a specic card, ranging from 1 to 13.

MOVING MECHANISM Referring now to FIGURES 2` and 3, there is shown in a preferred embodiment, a moving mechanism 76 con tained within the cruciform base 12 of the distributor 10 Other constructions may equally facilely be used.

The moving mechanism 76 is characterized by a vertically disposed shaft 78 attached to the top and bottom of the hollow base 12 in any convenient manner (not shown here) that permits the shaft to rotate freely in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. A removable bottom plate 80 provides servicing access to the mechanism 76. Attached to the shaft 78 and concentrically integral therewith are a pair of identical ratchet wheels 82 and 84, designated as upper ratchet wheel and lower ratchet wheel respectively, having teeth 86 about the external periphery thereof.

The tray carriers above described, 30, 32, 34 and 36 are integral with and embody gear rods 88, 90, 92 and 94 respectively, having gear teeth 96 adapted to mate with the teeth 86 on the ratchet wheels, and are snugly mated therewith by the snug position of the tray carriers within their respective slots 22, 24, 26 and 28, so that the gear rods 88 and 90 mate with diametrically opposite sides of lower ratchet wheel 84 and travel parallel to one another, while the rods 92 and 94 mate at diametrically opposite points with upper ratchet lwheel 82 and travel in like manner.

Thus it will be evident that any reciprocating linear motion imparted to any one of the gear rods 88, 90, 92 and V94 will be translated into rotary motion of the ratchet wheels 82 and 84 and thereby retranslated into like reciprocating linear motion in the remaining three gear rods. Thus the tray carriers and their respective trays, 38, 40, 42 and 44 will all move simultaneously a like amount either inward towards the center, or outward along the arms of the cruciform base 12.

MODE OF OPERATION Having thus described the invention, it will now be apparent to those versed in the art that in operation of the novel distributor 10, when a deck 58 consisting of the special cards 57 is placed within the enclosure 48, or any other cards of like size having metal inserts 74 therein, any movement inward of the card trays 30, 32, 34

and 36 will automatically stack and align the deck. At this point an anisotropic magnet `62 is placed in a desired slot 60 in each of the vertical walls 56, 50, 52 and 54.

The anisotropic magnets 62 extend slightly above the vertical walls to provide easy gripping thereof between the fingers and facilitate transfer of the magnets between the various slots. The slots selected for placing the magnets are those wherein the faces 64 of the magnets will be aligned with and contacting the metal inserts 74 disposed along the edges of certain cards 57, preselected to form a playing hand. Upon manually moving any card tray along its slot outward towards the arms of the cruciform base 12, all of the card trays will move outward simultaneously a like amount and carry along with them four chosen playing hands attached to the four anisotropic magnets 62. As an illustration, if it is desired to deal North (designated by N. FIG. l) the ace of clubs, the anistropic magnet 62 in the Vertical wall 54 will be placed in that particular slot 60 wherein it will contact a correspondingly positioned metal insert 74 on the North edge of the ace of clubs. -Hence the ace of clubs will be pulled out when the card tray 42 is pulled outward. Simultaneously other preselected cards, all having metal inserts in vertical line with said insert on the ace of clubs will be extracted and distributed to the same player. The particular playing hands that will result from placing a magnet in any given slot 60 are known to the instructor and selected accordingly. Stops, to prevent overriding are provided by the particular length of each slot 22, 24, 26 and 28 and a conventional snapcatch (not shown here) serves to maintain the tray carriers in contact with the crossrib 55, in the inwardmost position of the carriers.

Referring now to FIGURES 9 through 15, which illustrate the pin version, in FIG. 9 there is shown a selective card separator and distributor generally designated by the numeral 110 characterized by a substantially hollow cruciform base 112, defined by platforms or arms 114, 116, 118 and 120 forming the four arms of the c'ruciform base 112. Thus the plat-forms 114, and 116 are colinear and at substantially right angle to like colinear platforms 118 and 120. Each of the platforms or arms 114, 116, 118 and 120 contain therein, through slots 122, 124, 126 and 128 respectively of specified lengths as later explained, and within each slot rides a tray carrier designated in FIGS. 9 and 10, as 130, 132, 134 and 136. The carriers 130, 132, 134 and 136 bear card trays 138, 140, 142 and 144 respectively aixed thereto in any desired manner such as through mounting holes 146 (FIGS. l0 and 12). Thus the card trays 138, 140, 142 and 144 ride outwardly and inwardly above the base 112 for the length of the slots 114, 116, 118 and 120 and it will be noted that at the most inward position of the trays, a rectangular enclosure 148 is formed, defined (FIG. 9) by four vertical inverted L-shaped walls 150, 152, 154 and 156 forming the back of the trays 138, 140, 142 and 144 respectively. The enclosure 148 is the exact size as and adapted to contain one or more special playing cards 157 (FIG. 15) or other cards of like size, not shown here, and since the height h (FIG. 12) of the walls 150, 152, 154 and 156 is the same or slightly greater than the thickness of an entire deck 158 (not shown here) of special cards 157, it will be readily evident that when such a deck 158 is placed within the enclosure 148, and the card trays 140, 142, 144 and 146 are positioned slightly outward; upon moving the trays to their innermost position, so that edges 159, and 161 of card trays 140 and 142 for example (FIGS. 9 and l2) meet and bear against a crossrib 155, on the base 112, the deck 158 will find itself automatically and neatly stacked and aligned.

Referring now to FIGURES 9 and 12 it will be noted that the inverted L-shaped walls 150, 152, 154 and 156 are characterized by overhanging arms 149, 151, 153 and 155. Each overhanging arm contains a plurality of identical through holes 160 extending linearly along the entire length L thereof, spaced and positioned approximately equidistantly along each arm; eight such holes being shown here (FIG. l2) by way of example.

Each hole 160 is adapted to snugly receive a pin 162 therethrough as shown in FIG. 9. The pins 162 are preferably circular in diameter and embody a substantially horizontal arm 164 to facilitate insertion or removal of the pins from the holes.

SPECIAL PLAYING CARDS Referring now to FIG. l5 wherein details of the special playing card 157 are disclosed, it will be seen that the four edges 166, 168, 170 and 172 thereof contain a plurality of holes 174 and cutouts or slots 175 disposed along the length thereof at substantially equispaced locations.

The holes 174, and slots 175 are spaced and positioned along the edges 166, 168, 170 and 172 of the playing cards 157 which form the special deck 158, in such a manner that their position wherever they are present, in anygiven card, is identical and matching with the spacing and positioning of the holes 160 in the arms 149, 151, 153 and 155 of their respective walls 150, 152, 154 and 156. In other words, the various cards 157 of which the deck 158 is composed, each contain one or more holes 174 or cutouts 175 along their four edges. The number of holes and cutouts and their positioning on any given card is dependent upon the particular playing combination or pre-arranged hand to which the card is assigned, and forms part of a carefully pre-conceived pattern. However, the holes 174 and cutouts 175 `will always be made to fall exactly beneath a hole 160, and on a vertical line therewith. l

Referring to FIGS. 9 and 14, it will be seen that the pin 162 extends downward vertically through one of the holes 160 in the arm 151 and through at least one hole 174 in the playing cards 157. Hence when the card tray is made to move outwards, all of the playing cards 157 wherein the pin 162 passes through a hole 174 thereof will perforce be pulled outwards along with the card tray 140. All of these cards however wherein the pin 162 passes vertically through a cutout, or slot 175 thereof will not accompany the card tray 140 in its outwards movement. Since the holes 174 and slots or cutouts 175 in the cards are vertically superimposed, and all are vertically aligned with one of the holes 160 on the overhanging arms 149, 151, 153 and 155, it is evident that by a planned positioning of the holes 174 and cutouts 175 on certain cards to fall in vertical alignment with a selected hole 160, it is possible to cause a desired card or combination of cards to be pulled out of the deck by placing a pin in a pre-arranged hole 160. The same pin placed in an adjacent hole 160 for example, will cause a different combination of cards to be pulled from the deck. And it will further be evident that by positioning a pin 162 in each overhanging arm 149, 151, 153 and 155, when the trays 140, 142, 144 and 146 are in their most inward position (so that edges 159 and 161 meet the crossrib and the deck 158 is neatly stacked, four different prearranged combinations of cards may be drawn from the deck simultaneously.

If cards other than playing cards are being employed in conjunction with the separator 110, as above suggested, the holes 174 and the slots 175 will be positioned in the cards in like manner, so as to always fall directly and vertically below a hole when the pile of cards is neatly stacked and aligned in the separator.

The playing cards 157, have, in addition, an identifying design on the back. The card 157 (FIG. 15) shows a back divided into 16 rectangles similar to FIG. 7. Each rectangle is one of four different colors, as for example, white, red, green and brown. Each rectangle has a numeral imprinted thereon ranging from l to 13, since there are 13 cards to each of the four conventional suits. The

corresponding rectangle on each of the cards 157 is the same color although the numeral thereon may be different. For example, the card 157 (FIG. 15) shows the upper left hand rectangle to be white, and bearing the numeral l. Thus, on all the cards of the deck 158, the upper left hand rectangle is white, but the numerals thereon will range from 1 to 13 for each of the four suits. These numerals indicate the correct order of play of each bridge hand dealt out 'by the distributor 110. In this manner, by following the proper number in any given rectangle of the same color, and in the same position on each card, the cards will be played in the correct predetermined order according to the recommended technique. It is also possible for a user, after he has selected and played a card to turn it lover and observe whether he had made the correct selection according to the recommended play sequence. It will be noted that the number of hands possible to play in predetermined order may be increased by employing 32 rectangles instead of 16 on the back of the cards, each rectangle bearing a numeral assigned to a specific card, ranging from 1 to 13.

A retaining rib 163 keeps the pin 162 stable when engaging cards 157.

MOVING MECHANISM Referring now to FIGURES 10 and l1, there is shown essentially the same embodiment as already described in FIGS. 2 and 3. Moving mechanism 176 is contained within the cruciform base 112 of the distributor 110. Other constructions may be equally facilely used.

The moving mechanism 176 is characterized by a vertically disposed shaft 178 attached to the top and bottom of the hollow base 112 in any Idesired manner (not shown here), that permits the shaft to rotate freely in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. A removable bottom plate 180 provides servicing access to the mechanism 176. Attached to the shaft 178 and concentrically integral therewith are a pair of identical ratchet wheels 182 and 184, designated as upper ratchet Wheel and lower ratchet wheel respectively, having teeth 186 about the external periphery thereof. The tray carriers heretofore mentioned, 130, 132, 134, and 136 are integral with and embody gear rods 188, 190, 192 and 194 respectively, having gear teeth 196 adapted to mate with the teeth 186 on the ratchet wheels, and are snugly mated therewith by the snug position of the tray carriers within their respective slots 122, 124, 126 and 128, so that the gear rods 188 and 190 mate with diametrically opposite sides of the lower ratchet wheel 184 and travel parallel to one another, While the rods 192 and 194 mate at diametrically opposite points with upper ratchet wheel 182 and travel in like manner.

Thus it will be evident that any reciprocating linear motion imparted to any one of the gear rods 188, 190, 192, and 194 will be translated into rotary motion of the ratchet wheels 182 and 184 and thereby retranslated into like reciprocating linear motion in the remaining three gear rods. Thus the tray carriers and their respective trays, 138, 140, 142 and 144 will all move simultaneously a like distance either inward towards the center or outward along the arms of the cruciform base 112.

MODE OF OPERATION Having thus described this embodiment, it is clear that the operation is similar to the embodiment of FIGS. 1-8. Distributor 110, when a deck 158 consisting of the special cards 157 is placed within the enclosure 148, or any other cards of like size, are placed therein, movement inward of the card trays 130, 132, 134 and 136 to their innermost position will automatically stack and align the deck, because the enclosure 148 defined by the vertical walls 150, 152, 154 and 156 is the exact size of the deck 158.

At this point, a pin 162 is placed through each of the four overhanging arms 149, 151, 153 and 155 in a preselected hole in each arm. The selection of the holes will depend upon the particular hands or combinations of cards it is desired to draw from the deck, since as aforestated each hole represents a diierent card combination. One can arrange to have certain hands Idealt from the deck which will illustarte a desired point.

The pins 162 embody an arm 164 to facilitate manipulation of the pins, and the transfer thereof between the various holes 160.

Upon manually moving any card tray along its slot outward towards the arms `of the cruciform base 112, all of the card trays will move outward simultaneously a like amount and carry along with them four chosen playing hands attached to the four pins 162. As an illustration, if it is desired to deal North (designated by N. FIG. 9) the ace of clubs, the pin 162 in the vertical wall 154 will be place-d in that particular hole 160 wherein it will pass through a corresponding hole 174 on the North edge of the ace of clubs. Hence the ace of clubs will be pulled out when the card tray 142 is pulled outward. Simultaneously other preselected cards, all having holes in vertical line with said hole on the ace of clubs will be extracted and distributed to the same player. All of those cards having a slot or cutout 175 in vertical alignment with said hole will not be pulled out of the deck with the ace of clubs since the pin 162 will simply pass through the open cutout. The particular playing hands that will result from placing a pin in any given hole 160 are pre-known and/or can be predetermined, and selected accordingly. Stops, to prevent overriding of the tray carriers 130, 132, 134 and 136 are provided by the particular length `of each slot 122, 124, 126 and 128 and a conventional snapcatch (not shown here) serves to maintain the tray carriers in contact with the crossrib 155, in the inwardmost position of the carriers.

It should also be borne in mind, that if desired the trays may be greater or less in number than the four illustrated, depending upon the desired purpose for which the device will be used.

What is claimed is:

1. A card associating device comprising a substantially cruciform base, a slot disposed along each arm portion thereof, tray means adapted to carry cards slidably disposed in each slot, said tray means being of a size such that when each is moved to its inmost position the tray means automatically stack and align the cards and form an enclosure therearound.

2. A` device according `to claim 1 wherein each tray means has a tray carrier attached thereto, a vertical free rotating shaft having a pair of ratchet wheels concentric therewith attached to the base and gear rods integral with the tray carriers mating with the ratchet wheels to move the tray means simultaneously along the arms upon rotation of the shaft.

3. A device according to claim 2 wherein the tray carriers are disposed in two co-linear pairs and the carriers in each pair mate with diametrically opposite sides of a ratchet wheel.

4. A device for stacking a deck of cards characterized by a substantially hollow base having four arms arranged in cruciform fashion, a slot in each arm, card carrying tray means movable along each slot and adapted to carry therewith unstacked cards into stacked association with cards carried by the other trays, a vertical wall on each tray means adapted to define an enclosure around the stacked deck upon moving the tray means to the innermost position along the slots, an upper ratchet wheel and a lower ratchet wheel mounted on a vertical shaft -within the base, a gear rod attached to each tray means, each ratchet wheel mating with a pair of gear rods at diametrically opposite points along the periphery of the wheel, and each rod being linearly mova-ble to cause an identical linear movement in each of the remaining rods.

5. The device according to claim 4 comprising ratchet wheels which are identical in diameter and concentrically disposed about the vertical shaft,

6. The device according to claim 5 comprising ratchet wheels which are free to rotate upon the shaft in both clockwise and counterclockwise direction.

7. A card associating device for forming a stack of cards comprising a base, guide means for establishing four guide paths along said base in a cruciform array, each of said guide paths disposed along an arm portion of said cruciform array, means adapted -to engage an edge of said cards slidably disposed for movement along each guide path, said last-named means being of a size that when each is moved to its inmost position the means automatically stack and align the cards and form an enclosure therearound.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS ANTON O. OECHSLE, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

